Improvement in fare-boxes



2 Sheets--Sheet1. A. 1. C0 RTIS.

Fare-Box.

N0,168,619, Patented0ct.11,l875.

I nventor Vitnesses N-PETERS, PHOTO-LITNQGRAPH ER, WASHINGTON. D C.

I tion.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AARON J. CORTIS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT-IN FARE-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 168,619, dated October11, 1875; application filed July 7, 1875.

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known that I, AARON J. Gon'rrs, of San Francisco city and county,State of California, haveinven ted an In] proved Alarm Fare- Box andRegister; and I do hereby declare that the following description andaccompanying drawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in theart or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use my'said invention or improvement without further invention or experiment.i

My invention relates to an improved till or box for collecting fares inrailway-cars, omni-' buses, and other vehicles for carrying passengersand itconsi'sts of an arrangement for allowing each passenger to drophis own fare into the box; an alarm, which is caused to strike by theoperation of dropping the fare, and a register for noting and countingeach fare as it is introduced into the box.

In order to explain my invention, so that others will understand itsconstruction and operation, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1,Sheetl, is a front view of my box. Figure 2, Sheet 1, is a verticaltransverse sec- Fig. 3 is an enlarged section of the pawl andratchet-wheel. Fig. 4 is a back view.

LetA represent a box into which passengers fares are to be deposited.

Before proceeding to describe my invention, I will state that Icontemplate using small metal tickets or checks, preferably about thesize of a silver ten-cent piece and, I have adapted my fare receiver anddepositor to this kind of a ticket.

In the top of the box I make an opening, and in this opening I fit aplate, 1). One end of this plate is hinged, and an arm, a, at'its rearend,inside of the box, is connected with a spring, (I, which holds theopposite or free end up flush with the top of the box. Upon the free endof the plate 1), outside of the box, I make a raised cavity or socket,e, in which the metalfare is to be placed. A false bottom, f, isarranged to slide within the plate I), and is projected forward by thecrank G Whenever the plate I) is depressed. The outer end of the falsebottom in its forward movement forces pawl I engaged with the toothedwheel. The journal or arbor of the toothed wheel K passes through thefront side of the box and carries an index or pointer finger, m, on itsouter end, which serves to register the number of fares, as hereinafterdescribed.

Directly below the free end of the plate b I place a spout, M, in whichthe fares will be caught as they drop or are forced from" the socket inthe plate. b, and this spout directs the fares into the radialcompartment-s a n of a wheel, N, which is rotated by means of a shaft,W, on the end of whichis attached a spur-wheel, n engaging with aspur-Wheel, n ,'on the end of the shaft of thewheel K.

, The wheel N is set at an angle, as shown, and

is open on the upper side, in order that the contents of the radialcompartments may be seen. As many radial compartments can be used asdesired. This wheel is rotated by the gearing which connects it with thearbor of the toothed wheel K, so that each time the plate I) isdepressed one of its compartments will be brought under the lower end ofthe spout M, so that each compartment on one side of the wheel willcarry a fare or ticket around with-it until it arrives at the lowestpoint in its revolution. I I

A guard-plate, O, surrounds one-half of the wheel on its carrying-side,so as to prevent the fares from dropping out until they arrive at thelowest point, where they are allowed to fall into the drawer or lock-boxin the bottom of the fare-box. The rear side of the box is covered witha glass plate, so that the driver can inspect the fares as they arecarried by the radial compartments from the highest part of the angularwheel to the lowest part, in order to determine their character.

A hell or gong, P, is secured on the'arbor of the toothed wheel K. Theteeth of the Wheel K are beveled on one side, so that each tooth as itpasses will operate a trip, Q, which is secured to the box below thewheel K, and is held in position by a spring, 25. A striker or hammer,R, is attached to this trip, so that each time the trip is operated thehammer will strike the. bell and give notice that a ticket has beendeposited.

On the front side of the box I make a dial, U, which is covered with aglass face, and on this dial I mark an outer and inner circle offigures. The dial U toward its periphery is provided with a circle offigures numbered from 1 to 30, or to any other given number, while thecircle arranged around the axis is provided with a series of numbers,the first of which indicates 30, or any other number noted by arevolution of the index-finger m around the dial, and each succeedingnumber on the inner circle will indicate a multiple of such number, arevolution of the index finger or causing the finger W to move one spaceor number on the inner circle. The index-finger m, which points to theouter circle, is attached to the arbor of the toothed wheel K, as abovespecified, so that each time the wheel moves the distance of one tooththe finger moves forward to a progressive number. thus indicatiu g thenumber of tickets deposited up to the full number of fingers in thecircle.

A short index-finger, W, is attached to a sleeve, through which thearbor of the wheel K passes, and this sleeve is moved so as to carry thefinger from one number to another each time the wheel K makes arevolution. This finger therefore indicates the number of revolutionsmade by the long finger m, and permits the number of tickets depositedto be registered to any required extent.

It will thus be seen that the operation of registering the number offares, sounding the alarm,and rotating the wheel N with its radialcompartment so as to carry the ticket or fare to a position where it isdumped into the drawer or lock box, are all accomplished by the movementof the ticket receiving and depositing device I).

The box is compact, having only two compartments, while the ticket whenonce deposited is beyond recovery or abstraction. It will be evidentthat the radial compartments of the wheel N will at all times contain asmany fares as there are compartments on the guarded side.

Havingthus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. The plate I), hinged at one end and provided with a pocket, 6, andsliding false bottom,f, in combination with the lever Gr, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

2. The plate I), with its fare receiving and depositing socket or cavity6, and lever H, with its attached pawl I and detent J, in combinationwith the toothed wheel K,index-fingers m and W, gear-wheels n a and angularly-rotating wheel N, with its radial compartments, substantially asand for the purpose described.

3. The hinged plate b, with its fare receiving and depositing socket e,in combination with the spout M and angularly-rotating wheel .N, havingthe radial compartments n n and guard-plates 0, substantially as and forthe purpose described.

4. A combination fare-box, alarm, and register, so constructed that thefares shall be received in radial compartments n n of a wheel, N, andcarried by such wheel during half of its revolution, and then depositedin the drawer of the box, the fares in the compartments of the wheelbeing open to inspection during the revolution of the wheel N,substantially as and for the purpose described.

AARON J. OORTIS.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. STRONG, O. M. RIcHARDso

